Issued by Interior Department
The MMS, in accordance with regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), announces the availability of an EA and FONNSI for the Cape Wind Energy Project proposed for Nantucket Sound, offshore Massachusetts. On January 16, 2009, the MMS announced the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Cape Wind Energy Project. The FEIS assessed the physical, biological, and social/human impacts of the proposed project and 13 alternatives, including a no-action alternative (i.e., the project is not built), and proposed mitigation. The MMS prepared this EA to determine whether MMS needs to supplement the FEIS for the Cape Wind Energy Project by examining whether there are "substantial changes in the proposed action that are relevant to environmental concerns" or whether "there are significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the proposed action or its impacts" that either were not fully discussed or did not exist at the time the FEIS was prepared (40 CFR 1502.9). The MMS reviewed information obtained from the scientific/ technical literature, government reports and actions, intergovernmental coordination and communications, required consultations, comments made during the FEIS comment period, and comments received during the 30-day comment period after the initial circulation of this EA on March 8, 2010. This included the information discussed in the January 13, 2010, MMS Documentation of Section 106 Finding of Adverse Effect (Revised Finding), contained in the comments received during the 30-day period offered after the Revised Finding was circulated, and the information contained in the April 2, 2010, comment by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. The MMS has determined that there is no new information that would necessitate a re-analysis of the range of the alternatives or the kinds, levels, or locations of the impacts of the Proposed Action on socioeconomic conditions or biologic, physical, or cultural resources. The analyses, potential impacts, and conclusions detailed in the FEIS remain valid. Therefore, the MMS has concluded that a supplemental EIS is not required. The EA and FONNSI are available at http://www.mms.gov/ offshore/RenewableEnergy/CapeWind.htm.
This is a factual description of what was issued or decided — not an assessment of it.
